Can't Get Too Much Of You
by what a feeling
Summary: Percy's busy, and Annabeth's lonely. One-shot. Punk! Percy and Dancer! Annabeth. (Am I the only one who thinks Punk! Percy gives off a very Brendon Urie vibe?)


**DISCLAIMER: I don't own the characters or any other references you might find in the story. Title's from One Direction's song, Never Enough.**

All her life, Annabeth had been the center of everyone's attention. In a way, it made sense- She was, afterall, a performer. She'd played the lead roles in almost every school production since kindergarten. In middle school, she made local news for saving a cat stuck on a tree. When she was fourteen, she tried out for the cheer squad, and ended up being the captain- She was the only freshman on the squad, and she was _captain_. She'd been the smartest kid in school since she could remember. Was she used to having people stare at her in awe and admiration?

Yes, she was.

It wasn't that she enjoyed the spotlight- She didn't even hate it. She'd just gotten so accustomed to it, she'd never thought it any different. She attended a small liberal arts college in New York, where she was a member of the student council and head of the Skidmore College dance team. There wasn't a single student who didn't know her- Name, face, or, most likely, both.

She'd never been one for the sidelines, yet, she found herself comfortable backstage at the concert, peering through the gaps in the curtains to watch Eyes Of The Beat perform on the large stage. She smiles as she watches the lead singer swing his guitar around and hold the silver microphone with both his hands, pressing his lips to it. He's in no way close to where she's standing, but she can feel the genuine happiness radiate off him as he sings the verse.

Annabeth doesn't notice herself mouthing the words as she watches him. The song comes to an end not long after, and somewhere in her mind, she's thinking of how unfair it is that their songs only last four minutes. Percy Jackson raises his tattooed arm up, and the crowd, although relatively smaller than usual, is deafening. There's people screaming the strangest things to him, and he's being very graceful, answering what little he could hear. He's laughing with them, and making jokes that makes Annabeth's stomach bubble with laughter. Every now and then, the bassist, Jason, would say something, and the two of them would bring the entire auditorium down.

Annabeth glances down at her phone screen, and she knows it's time for her to leave. She wants to stay until the end- Oh, how much she wants to- but she's got her own spotlight waiting for her, and she draws back, letting the blue curtain fall back. She turns around, bidding Frank, the band's friend-turned-manager goodbye with a quick hug and a kiss to his cheek, hoists her handbag onto her shoulder and walks out.

oOo

Annabeth's lounged on the couch in a position hardly acceptable for someone wearing a skirt, but she's alone at home, so who cares? She told herself sadly. She's live streaming the VMAs on the TV, trying to cheer herself up. Her boys had been nominated for _three_ awards this year, and she was happy for them, really, she was, but she hated that they had to go mid-tour to Las Vegas and leave her behind in Los Angeles. For someone so dedicated to dancing, she sometimes hates her job.

She knows she can't be with Percy all the time- She knew that when they started dating before they'd gotten their big break, because she'd always believed in the boys- But it doesn't stop her from being just a little jealous of people like Travis and Katie, or Clarisse and Chris, who got to come home to the other every day. She'd get her boyfriend all to herself for all of three months a year, and she knows she should be happy, but she didn't think she'd ever get enough of having Percy around.

She plays aimlessly with her curls as she watches the television screen sullenly. She didn't particularly care for pop music, and she _swears_ she wasn't saying it because Eye Of The Beat was a rock band. She knows she's pouting, but she can't wipe it off her face. With a sigh, she reaches over the tan leather couch to fish out her phone. Somewhere along the way, it'd sank into the cracks. She fiddled with it for a few moments before hitting the call button, and holding it up to her ear.

"Annabeth?"

"Hey- Hi, Sally." Her voice sounded a little hollow, so she clears her throat.

"Hi, doll." Annabeth smiles tiredly to herself. "Feeling lonely tonight?" Sally has a way of knowing things about Annabeth that she hasn't figured out yet, and she doesn't understand how much it means to the younger woman.

"Kind of." She mumbled, and Sally sighs slowly.

"Turn off the TV, Annabeth." She says decisively, and Annabeth found herself following her instructions without question. "Try to get some sleep, okay? There's some melatonin pills in the medicine cabinet, why don't you take one of them?"

"Why are there sleeping hormones-?"

"Have you watched the way you work?" Sally clicks her tongue. "I figured you'd need them sometime in life. Stocked it up for you when I visited last." Annabeth can't help but smile at that. She ambles to said cabinet and extracts a box of white pills, popping one into her mouth without bothering about the water. "Now get yourself a glass of water." Sally instructs on the other end of the phone, and Annabeth can _hear_ the smile in her voice. She doesn't respond, but does as she says, and before she knows it, Sally's hanging up on her, telling her to just relax, and that it should kick in soon enough.

Annabeth pads around the house aimlessly for a few minutes before deciding to snuggle back into the couch, turning on the TV. She catches the tailing end of Taylor Swift's performance, the advertisement break and leans forward in interest as Nick Jonas and Halsey come onto stage. The nominees for the Best Rock Video flash across the screen, and she's crossing her fingers.

"Fall Out Boy!"

Annabeth curls further into her huddled human ball, still watching the screen without actually listening to anything being said. She feels like she was dreaming, everything seems so surreal.

Her vision was starting to blur, and she yawns, deciding to give her eyes _ten seconds_ of rest before watching the rest of the show- EOTB was still nominated for Best Choreography and Best Collaboration, and she was especially proud of the first one, seeing that _she_ 'd been the one to choreograph it. She'd insisted they don't give her credit, waved off any of their protests.

She let her eyes flutter shut- Just giving them a break, she tells herself.

oOo

When she opens her eyes, sunlight is streaming into the living room, and the television screen was still on, although playing nothing- The live show is long over. She stretches her limbs, wincing at the sound of the muscles on her back cracking. She stands up, ignoring the pain on her neck, and opens the large sliding doors in the living room. She soaks in the sun for a moment, hot breeze hitting her face. She lets out another yawn before brushing her teeth, and then stepping out to make herself some coffee.

She hears her phone buzz, and takes her as much time to find it as it does for her coffee to heat. She's so distracted, she pockets the phone before pouring it out into her favorite mug. Her phone's constantly buzzing, but she ignores it as she does the dishes- She _hates_ procrastination, and would push anything aside if it meant she got her work finished. She dries her hands against her sweatpants, grabs the mug and settles into one of the barstools on the kitchen counter- It had been all Percy's idea- before pulling out her phone, just as it buzzed again, lighting up. Her lock screen was filled with texts that she was still too drowsy to read, so she looks for Percy's contact- Accented with a dolphin emoji beside it that he insisted be there- and slid it open.

11:32:18 P.M. Percy: Annabeth

11:32:45 P.M. Percy: ANNABETH

11:33:09 P.M. Percy: WE WON. YOU WON.

11:33:27 P.M. Percy: Why aren't you answering your phone? Are you alright?

11:34:02 P.M. Percy: Annabeth Chase, answer your fucking phone right now.

11:45:56 P.M. Percy: Just got off with my mom, you're asleep, I get it. Never mind.

09:57:01 A.M. Percy: I miss you. Call me when you're up?

The last text is followed with a heart emoji, and Annabeth smiles sleepily at the screen, hitting call. It rings one time before he answers.

"Took you long enough. What, did you OD on hormones?" His tone is light, teasing, and Annabeth's knees go weak at the sound of his voice, because _god_ , she misses him, and she wants to be able to watch him laugh and touch his tattoos and run her fingers through his hair, and listening to him makes it so much worse.

"You won?" She decides to ignore him, concentrating on the real news here. There's a shuffling from the other end of the line, and she can hear Percy call out,

"Looks like Sleeping Beauty's woken up." She rolls her eyes.

"Am I on speaker?"

"ANNABETH, WE WON! BEST CHOREOGRAPHY!" Leo's voice was loud and she could almost imagine his eyes sparkling and that shit eating grin across his face. She ached to be able to see them all again.

"You should've heard Percy's acceptance speech. Wouldn't stop talking about you. _Oh, it's all my girlfriend, she's the greatest_ -" Nico did a bad imitation of Percy's voice, but got cut off after a sound that sounded suspiciously like someone hitting him.

"I want to thank you, but I feel like you might hit me if I did." Jason says, and Annabeth can't wipe the smile off her face. It isn't even because of the award, it's just listening to them, and knowing that they were one week away from coming back home, coming back _to her_ , made her giddy with excitement.

"I'm so proud of you boys." She hears herself say, but she's lost all control of her senses. She's leaning against the table, and her eyes are watering but she has no idea how to get a grip on herself. She talks to them for a while longer, and they're telling her about the _mad_ after party that _none of them drank at_ , and how proud she should be of them, because they have a concert today, and they didn't need her _momming_ them anymore. She's indulging them, telling them that they did the right thing, warning them not to go onto stage _too_ drunk, hoping they have fun.

The last part was only out of habit- Annabeth had never seen any of them look happier than they did when they were performing. She thinks that's why she ever fell in love with Percy in the first place. She'd barely paid him any attention, in the beginning. He'd always been the guy in her school who didn't speak much, and preferred to stay by himself. She'd seen them perform when she was back home for summer break before sophomore year in college, when she was on a date with a man who bored her to _death_ and thought she'd like to go to a small bar in the city. She tried to listen to him without ripping her ears out, but she'd instead caught the sound of Percy's voice, and turned around to see the most attractive, confident guy who seemed to be able to sway the audience with just his words. His smile was easy, and his laugh loud.

She'd walked up a little closer to stage, and because the world had always bent over itself to give her everything she wanted, he'd caught her eye, his own widening in recognition. She'd given him a curious look as he excused himself for a quick break, come up to her, and asked if she went to Riverdale High, and things had been that easy ever since.

He'd invite her to all their gigs, his texts started taking up most of her day, and soon enough, she was attending jam sessions with the band and eating dinner with Sally and Paul over the weekends. He'd given her a family after her groping in the dark for nineteen years, and Annabeth couldn't be more grateful for having Percy in her life.

"Hey." His voice cuts her out of her thoughts, and he sounds a lot closer, so she assumes she's off speaker now.

"Hi." She smiles, shiver running down her spine because she can _swear_ she could feel his arm around her for a second.

"I miss you." He tells her, and it's not much, but Annabeth understands what he means.

"I miss you too." She says softly. "One more week, then?"

"Six days. It's going to pass by in a blink. Don't you worry yourself." He tells her, and she knows he's trying to cheer her up, but can't help wonder if he's telling himself, too. He asks her about school, and the studio, and the neighbors, and her student, Lily's father who he thinks flirts with Annabeth. They speak for a while longer, until she tells him it's time to go, gently reminding him that he needs his voice for the rest of the night. He whines a bit but hangs up nevertheless, and Annabeth feels like a part of her body's been taken away from her when the line goes dead.

It's only a week.

oOo

She's just finished with one batch of students, and the next batch is due to come in ten minutes later, so she plops down on one of the chairs meant for the parents with her phone. She's scrolling through her Facebook, when she realizes Eyes Of The Beat is trending. With a frown, she decides to investigate, and her frown only deepens at the headlines- They'd announced a hiatus? She can't wrap her mind around either the fact that they actually did announce it, or that they didn't tell her. She's already dialing in Percy's number but her students are trickling in, and she puts her phone away, getting off the chair and smiling at them.

"Come on in, Addison. Lily! How're you feeling today? Is your toe better?" She's already getting the little girls into their positions. "We're going to start learning a new song today, how does that sound?" She likes to train the adults more than the children, but she doesn't complain. She's shoving all thoughts she's having out of her head as she starts up an old nutcracker themed composition. While she teaches most kinds of dance, she enjoys ballet and contemporary freestyle most, and shows her students what they're scheduled to learn as they wait for everyone to turn up.

She loses herself in the music easily enough, and she feels herself melt into the melody. Her arms are firm but graceful and she twirls on her toes, letting her eyes close shut. She lets the music guide her movements, shedding what little inhibition she had. She's humming to herself, and there's a smile spreading across her lips as she dances. It's a simple enough routine, not something she can't expect from a bunch of seven year olds, but it was beautiful, and the more you practiced, the better it got, she'd learned. When she stops, her students are all watching her with wide eyes, and she can hear Lily's father, Mr. Spencer, clapping behind her.

"Are you guys ready, then?" She claps her hands together, and the girls get onto their feet, large grins on their faces.

oOo

It's been six days, and she convinces herself that she's barely had the time to speak to Percy, what with school and the studio. The school has a spring musical coming out in three months, and they needed her to help with the choreography and making the props, and it was positively draining Annabeth.

She worked at a local school during the mornings as a high school dance teacher, and spent the evenings in the studio she'd opened up herself a couple of years go, training people of all ages. Dance is Annabeth's life- She can't imagine herself do anything but, and it makes her happy. She loves that five days a week, her day starts and ends with dance, and nothing else. It's been four years, and she's never once resented her choice to be a dancer. It didn't pay much, but she worked hard, and with two jobs, she could lead a pretty easy life.

"Annabeth, you should go home." Rachel, the art teacher, and one of Annabeth's closest friends tells her, sitting down beside her as she worked on the sets- She's in charge of the buildings, and she isn't complaining. If she wasn't dancing, she can definitely see herself hunched over blueprints, she thinks. She shakes her head.

"I'm good. I don't have to get to the studio for another two hours, I can help." She doesn't meet Rachel's eye.

"You're working your backside off." The redheaded teacher states flatly, and Annabeth pretends she doesn't hear her. "I've known you for four years. What's bothering you?" Annabeth avoids her eye, and Rachel lets out a sigh. "Is this something to do with the hiatus?" Annabeth nods, eyes still fixed on the paintbrush.

"How'd you guess?"

"I read the news every now and then, you know. What's wrong with it, are they having a fight?" Annabeth lets out a frustrated growl.

"I _don't know_. That's the thing. None of them even told me about it." Rachel clicked her tongue at that. "Sure, they've all called me a bunch of times, but it just sucks that I had to hear it through MTV News first, you know?" She looks up at Rachel, and she can feel the tears she'd swallowed back for so long sting at her eyes. Her friend gives her a sympathetic hug, and Annabeth digs her face against her neck.

"Isn't Percy supposed to be back today?" She asks, and Annabeth nods into her curls.

"I don't want to face him just yet." Which was true. Annabeth had been dying all day long, because she knew Percy was back in her- their- apartment, and she'd been ignoring his calls and texts for three days, and she didn't know what was going to happen. She felt worse than she did before, because she knew he was right there, and she didn't know what was going to happen.

"Annabeth, put the brush down." Rachel tells her, guiding her arm down anyway. "Look, you can't run away from it forever. If you don't go back there, he'll come looking for you. Do you really want your rock star boyfriend in a school filled with hormonal teenagers?"

Annabeth considers it. Their relationship is in no way secret, but she'd made it clear that the school was absolutely out of bounds for Percy- It was her workplace, and she couldn't have her students running out of her class to squeal over him. To their credit, the students only asked her questions about him rarely, but she didn't want to put them to test.

"Guess you're right." She gets off the floor quietly, leaving the room without as much as a goodbye.

oOo

The drive home was long, and when she got in, there was no sign of Percy. She decided to cancel out classes at the studio for the day, telling them they deserved their Friday off. She curls up in her bed that smells like Percy, ignoring the suitcase standing beside it. Her eyes beg to close- She'd spent too many nights wide awake, working at the studio on her routines. She let them flutter close.

She wakes up to a pair of eyes green as grass staring back at her, and she nearly screams. There's an arm loosely wrapped around her wrist, and she's going to slap the man holding her but her brain starts to work, and she's got her arms wrapped around his neck. She closes her eyes, breathing in his musky scent and trying to memorize the texture of his hair. She runs her fingers along the edges of his undercut, and tangles them in his hair. She draws back, looks up at him, and he's giving her the smile that makes her feel like she's grown wings.

He's wrapped his arms around her waist, and he's pulling her gently closer to him, and he stops when their lips are centimeters away. She can almost taste his lips, and she's craving to close the gap. He leans his forehead against hers.

"Hi." He breathes, and good lord, Annabeth can't breathe because he's _here_ , and he's holding her and she can see him and he's back _home_ with her.

"Hi." She tells him seconds before he closes the gap between their lips. He kisses her slowly, carefully, like he's afraid of breaking her. She pushes herself closer to him because she doesn't think she can ever be close enough to Percy. His kiss is passionate and slow, like he's got all the time in the world, and he just wants to feel her lips under his. He moves on to kiss down her jaw, her neck, collarbone and he draws back, looking down at her with that damn smile that sends all kinds of emotions through her body.

"I really missed you." He tells her. "Were you late from school today? Nearly drove down there myself." She laughs a little at that, and decides to just nod.

"Where were you when I got home?"

"Honey, we're out of meat." His tone is flat and Annabeth _swears_ she isn't crying when she answers.

"I'm vegetarian."

"I know." He presses a kiss to her temple and they both fall back onto the bed. Percy pulls her close to his chest, and she can't help but feel like that's where she belongs. She feels whole, complete. It wasn't like she was dysfunctional without Percy, no. It's just that with him, she feels better. She thinks it's just something that varies from person to person. Like how Rachel works best alone, or Reyna works best against Octavian. They cuddle in silence for a while, and Annabeth's still soaking up his presence when he speaks.

"Want to tell me why you've been avoiding me?" She looks up at him, and his voice is calm, but his eyes look conflicted.

"Want to tell me about the hiatus?" She fires back, although there's no venom in her voice. She's drawing patterns on his wrist, but her question is loaded. _Why didn't you tell me? What's wrong?_

"It's just two years, babe." Annabeth flinches. She hated when Percy called her that, but she didn't tell him because she didn't want to hurt him.

"Sorry, MTV didn't mention that." She deadpans. Percy blushes.

"It's just because everyone missed you." He tells her, and she frowns because she doesn't quite understand. "We decided to take a break, and the media blew it out of proportions. I want to spend more time with you, and the guys miss hanging out as just friends, and it's all too much, you know? We decided to just step back for a while." Annabeth nods, because she thinks it's understandable, but she's still a little hurt that they didn't tell her.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"We tried-"

"Before you told MTV." She adds quietly, and Percy seems to be at a loss for words.

"It's just a lot of things that happened at once, and- I'm so sorry, Annabeth." He's pulling her closer, and Annabeth can't push him away. He's her biggest weakness and she molds into him, pressing her lips against his jaw.

"I love you so much." He mumbles, and she hums against his neck.

"I love you." She tells him, and she means it.

 **A/N:**

 **There's some of you asking for updates, and I just wanted to let you guys know that there will be no more updates, it's a one-shot. However, there's bound to be a lot more that I post, so keep your eyes open! xx**


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